IRS Starts to Enforce Employer Mandate

While Congress considers tax legislation that might eliminate the Affordable Care Act's rule requiring most people get health insurance, the Internal Revenue Service has announced that, for the first time, it will proceed to enforce the ACA mandate on employers...

November 28, 2017

While Congress considers tax legislation that might eliminate the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) rule requiring most people get health insurance, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that, for the first time, it will proceed to enforce the ACA mandate on employers.

Small and midsize businesses across the United States will receive letters stating that they owe the government money because they failed to offer their workers qualifying health insurance. The mandate took effect in 2015, but has not been enforced by the IRS, as it continued to build its compliance system. The mandate is expected to generate about $207 billion in penalty payments over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The per-employee fine increases each year, and can add up quickly.

The Treasury Department said that it objected to the employer mandate but was legally compelled to enforce it. “Treasury lawyers see no ground for the secretary to direct the I.R.S. to not collect the tax,” the agency said in a written statement.